


Lamplighters

by Shinehollow



Category: Fallout 3
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Murder, Blood and Gore, Descent into Madness, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Out of Character, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:20:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22674730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinehollow/pseuds/Shinehollow
Summary: How long you would wait for me? How long I've been away?For Magpie, being hired for a mission person's case was odd. By the Brotherhood of Steel was odder. And the client only hiring her almost twenty years after her target's disappearance was the oddest part.
Relationships: Amata Almodovar/Female Lone Wanderer, Amata Almodovar/Original Character(s), Catherine/James (Fallout), James (Fallout)/Original Character(s), Star Paladin Cross/Madison Li
Kudos: 3





	Lamplighters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand I've got more chaptered fic to be writing, but I've always wanted to try my hand at a fic where the Lone Wanderer was instead brought to Little Lamplight as a child instead of the Vault, and it kind of delved into it not being James' choice, and how he'd react to it. the ooc tag is specifically for him, but Cross might seem a little ooc because, frankly, I kept forgetting she existed so I never really used her as a companion.

"You're good, Magpie."

Magpie smirked at Red. "I know I am. I was a back gate guard, remember?" The doctor shook her head. "Being a back gate guard doesn't give you what you need to enter a Super Mutant stronghold, and create an impressive minefield." Magpie held up her shot glass and raised an eyebrow. "Well, hey, at least it helped." Red grabbed hers and raised it. "Thank God it did. Thanks Magpie." They drank, and Magpie slammed her glass down with a satisfied huff. "Can't wait to be on the road again."

"I thought you'd stay a while, rest a bit," Red said, titling her head. "Maybe talk to old friends again." Magpie shook her head. "No, I'm going to do a little scavenging around the downtown D.C. area, around the old Pentagon building and such."

"Better hope the Brotherhood doesn't mind you poking around that area," Red warned, standing up from her stool and walking towards her old kitchen. "Some of those Paladins can be downright nasty to a Wastelander like you. You don't exactly look like you're not a threat, either." She shrugged and stood up, grabbing her homemade pipe rifle from the wall. "Well, if they get pissy, I'll get pissy right back. No power armor's going to change that." Red scoffed. "Good luck, then."

Magpie waved and slowly walked out of the clinic, wincing at the sunlight. She'd been out of Little Lamplight for three years, but her tendency to travel under the cover of darkness gave her eyes shit chance to adjust to it. Pulling out her map as she walked across the bridge, carefully dodging the landmines, she charted the fastest yet safest way to to D.C. She would try to avoid Grayditch- according to the radio the settlers there had just happened to disappear and she really didn't want to get involved with whatever happened there. However, avoiding Grayditch held a higher chance of her running into the Raiders that camped out at Super Duper Mart, so she figured if she just hit the river, ignored the rads and just swam down she'd probably be the safest. 

Immediately heading east, she noticed some Regulators in the distance chasing some Raiders away from a small shack. She scowled, ducking out of sight so they didn't try to rope her into joining them-again. They were good people she supposed, but they had an annoying western cliche that grind her gears. When the gunshots faded she continued onward, trying to focus on whatever caps that could be made from the scrap around the ruins. As soon as she got to the river she jumped and began to slowly push herself south with the currents.

The building she was looking for specifically had once been the location of some scientific project of sorts. It was apparently abandoned around twenty years ago due to some sort of 'internal conflict', and eventually was taken over by Super Mutants. The Brotherhood of Steel still, rarely, ran patrols by that area when they could spare them, mainly to watch the mutants so close to their base at the Pentagon. No scavenger ever tried to even get close to the area, meaning it was ripe for the picking if one had the guts and the skill to get there. Magpie had more than enough for both.

The main entrance was blocked by massive, rusting water pipes, so Magpie figured the only way through was by busting through the old gift shop, a place that was undoubtedly guarded by the Super Mutants. Readying her rifle and shooting a Centaur that shambled up to her, she braced herself and burst into the shop.

There was a mutant standing down near a small alcove and the true entrance to the gift shop, but it barely registered the threat before she put a bullet in its head. Two other mutants called from the main area as she crept down the hall, taking the fallen mutant's hunting rifle as she peeked around the corner. One of the mutants was walking right towards the body when it noticed her and yelled for its brother as it pulled its nail board from its back. She shot it in the eye, letting out a hum of satisfaction as it dropped with a thud. The other mutant walked out of what seemed to be an old office, and it was offed just as easily as the first two.

Magpie dropped the now empty rifle with a smile and quickly canvased both rooms, the only things of worth being an old .32 pistol, some ammo for it, and a couple stimpacks in an old first aid kit. She also found an old holotape in the corner of some old bathrooms, surrounded by old bottles of scotch. _Need a terminal for that._

She sighed and walked into the second room, shooting a mutant that walked around the corner. Once she was sure there wasn't any else, she began to search the bigger area, finding even less. She picked up an old protectron arm that might've once belonged to either the scientists or the mutants with a huff. _The old owners sure cleaned this place out,_ she thought dejectedly, showing the arm into her bag. She ignored the rotunda and headed down the basement, shooting a mutant that was standing near an old desk. Another mutant stepped out of the hallway and began to charge her with a sledgehammer, and Magpie managed to duck away as it smashed the wall behind her. She shot it in the knee, causing it to drop, and grabbed the dead mutant's nail board and beat the living one's head until it dropped. 

Slinging the board into her back, she walked down the hall, stopping to peek into an old clinic for supplies and to reload before heading deeper. There was a mutant and a Centaur standing in a room filled with beds and lockers, and Magpie pulled a grenade to avoid wasting bullets. It landed near the mutant and took it out, but only crippled the Centaur. She took aim at its head and shot, wincing as a piece of one of its tongues landed near her foot. She kicked it away and walked over to a broken terminal on the floor, poking through it for parts. 

After a while she stood and looked at the mutant's body. "Fuck you," she grumbled, storming down the hallway. "Stupid fucking green freaks." She hung a left when she reached a crossroad, before finding herself into an old room. Given the furnishings, she figured it must've been the head scientist's quarters. There were more empty scotch bottles scattered about, an old crib, a bed, a framed quote from something she didn't quite know or care to know, and an old but working terminal. "Finally," she grumbled, sliding into the chair in front of it and turning it on. It wasn't locked, but there was nothing interesting other than several logs about water and stuff Magpie didn't understand. She pulled out the old holotape and put it in, clicking around until she finally managed to get it to play.

_"No, no,_ no. _Not her too. She can't be dead. There was nothing wrong with her. She was healthy. Cross, Madison, the others. They must have something to do with this. They have to. I've seen the way they've been watching me. Talking behind my back. They thought I was going to kill her. Whatever for? Do they think I blame her for Catherine's death?_

 _..._ Do _I? I'll admit I've been having mixed feelings about it when I see her, but I really don't think I would've killed her. Of course, I barely remember these past weeks, so maybe I did try something, or maybe I said something to one of them. Or they just overheard me when I was at my worst._

_I need to focus on something. On work. But is the work worth it with both of them gone? With all the failing, with all the attacks, with all the delays, Catherine and our child were the only things that kept me going. All that's undone now._

_Maybe I just need to get out of this place before their sympathy for whatever they did causes me to do something I'll remember, and regret. The Vaults might have something that can help me. They're full of pre-war tech, no matter what the stories say about them. Vault-Tec HQ should probably be my first place to look, to find out their locations._

_Oh my God, Katelyn. I'm so sorry."_

Magpie glanced over at the old crib and blinked, before looking back at the terminal to remove the holotape. _I wish there were more here,_ she thought as she shoved it back into her bag. _I love a good high-stakes mystery._ She went to walk out of the room and came face to face when the end of a laser pistol. 

"What is your business here?" a woman in power armor behind the pistol asked, and Magpie held up her hands. "Just looking for a profit." The woman lowered her pistol, but held it at the ready. "This is Brotherhood property. You're trespassing." Magpie dropped her hands and mocked her surprise. "It is? With all the Super Mutants around, I think you can forgive me for believing it wasn't." The woman huffed. "You're pretty brave, kid, sassing a Brotherhood Paladin that had the jump on you." She went quiet for a moment, a conflicted look in her eyes, before carefully asking, "Are you, by any chance, for hire?"

"Maybe," Magpie said. "Depends on what it is. You Brotherhood types don't often hire mercenaries." The woman shrugged. "This is more of a personal matter, and not a Brotherhood one." She gestured back into the room, and Magpie stepped back to let her in. The Paladin closed the door behind her, and gestured at the terminal. "That holotape you were listening to was by a good friend of mine. James McCoy. He was the head of the water purification project here. Project Purity." Magpie looked at the terminal. "That explains the logs about water." She looked back at the Paladin. "So, from what I'm figuring he disappeared after he went to Vault-Tec HQ, didn't he?"

"He did," the Paladin sighed, her voice tight. "He never told us he was going to leave. He just left. Afterwards, when there was no trace of him, and when the attacks got worse, the scientists were forced to abandon the project. With the Brotherhood's numbers stretched so thin, we had no choice but to leave his disappearance as that." Magpie looked at the Paladin. "If you don't mind me asking, what was up with him? He sounded so distressed in the holotape." The Paladin sighed. "His wife died after giving birth to their daughter, and he had been very put off by it. Pushed to the edge. When his daughter died not long afterwards, he went over." She closed her eyes. "It hurts, to see your friend go through something like that."

_Sounds to me he didn't believe that,_ Magpie thought, glancing at the crib. _But, if he was so distraught, why didn't he try confronting them about it?_ She looked back at the Paladin. "So, name a price. Vault-Tec HQ ain't exactly the safest place to be." The Paladin opened her eyes, and shrugged. "Would a thousand caps suffice?" Magpie blinked. "A _thousand?_ Hell, I don't even get that much during a contract to kill." Though, crawling with Raiders as it was, Vault-Tec HQ might kill her. But, if she was dead, she supposed caps wouldn't matter and if she lived, caps wouldn't matter for a bit. "To Hell with it. I'll do it." The Paladin looked relieved. "Thank you. Once you find out what happened to him, head to the science lab in Rivet City. Talk to Madison Li. I'll tell her about the job, and she'll be able to tell you how to proceed. Or pay you, depending on the outcome."

She went to leave, but Magpie called her back. "I need a name," Magpie said. "You know, for formalities." The Paladin stared at her, debating, before finally answering, "Star Paladin Cross." Magpie gave her a mocking salute. "Magpie." Cross stared at her, and Magpie stared back before quietly going "oh" and adding, "I'm from Little Lamplight."

"That explains it," Cross muttered, walking off. "Lamplighters always have such interesting names." Magpie shrugged. "Not my fault. I didn't name me." Cross vanished around the corner, a Brotherhood patrol coming from the water pools to follow her up, and Magpie waited until the sound of their heavy metal footsteps disappeared before heading up after them, starting to plan her trip west for when she had those caps in her pocket.

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you here," Li said as Cross walked over, not looking up from the terminal she was sitting at. "Whatever Lyons wants, tell him to go bother his scribes. We're busy enough here."

"It's not Lyons," Cross said, and Li finally turned to look at her. "Really? That's odd." Cross sighed, staring at the terminal. One of the last times the two of them were in a room together, they had to deal with telling James about his daughter, and then deal with whatever reaction he would've had afterwards. Luckily he only collapsed into Cross' power armor, and didn't fight as she half-carried, half-dragged him back into his room. For Cross, their actions that day soured the relationship between Li and her. But, Cross knew Madison probably felt the same way about it. "It's about James."

Li turned back to the terminal. "Oh." The two of them stood quietly for a moment, before Li quietly said, "It's been eighteen years, Cross. Are you sure he's even still alive?" Cross leaned against the desk, crossing her arms with a shake of her head. "No, I just happened to find a trespasser who found one of James' old holotapes. I figured I could hire her to at least go to the last place he was." Li looked back at her. "Where'd it say he went?" Cross dropped her arms. "Vault-Tec HQ. To look for Vaults." Li sighed and rubbed her temples. "Why didn't he just ask the Brotherhood? You know what Vault-Tec's like, both then and now." Cross shrugged, and they both went silent until Li asked, "How much did you hire her for?"

"A thousand caps," Cross said, and Li stood up. "A thousand? Just for fetch and retrieve, whatever it may be she's retrieving?"

"Maybe she'll find him alive," Cross pointed out hopefully. Li looked away as Cross straightened up. "I don't know why a thousand," she said, starting to walk towards the stairs. "She seemed on the fence, and I figured a lot of caps could easily nudge her onto our side. Besides," she stepped up on to the first stair and looked over, "he's worth a thousand, isn't he?" 

"I'd say five hundred on a good day," Li muttered, crossing her arms. Cross snorted, walking up the stairs. She stopped at the top and looked down. "By the way, I told her to come here after Vault-Tec. I know you'll probably be able to help her on her way with whatever information she brings." Li waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. I can handle it, Cross." Cross smirked. "I know you can, Madison." She walked towards the door, nodded at the Knight who'd accompanied her, and lead the way out of the Science Lab as she always did, with a pit in her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in two entire days and didn't really beta read it, so problems will probably be slowly fixed over the course of several days if there are any.


End file.
